Country Garden, China’s third largest property developer by sales, said its chief financial officer Wu Jianbin has resigned for personal reasons, after less than three years with the company.

Wu had resigned in order to “devote more time to his personal interests (photography and writing)”, effective from April 1, 2017, Country Garden said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange after Wednesday trading. He will also relinquish his position as executive director.

In 2014, Country Garden took on Wu, 51, as the successor of Estella Ng, who suddenly resigned from the post of CFO after six years of service. Prior to that, Wu was the executive director and vice president of state-owned property giant China Overseas Holdings.

Country Garden has been aggressively expanding in the past two years, and by the end of the first half of 2016 the company’s debt-to-equity ratio was as high as 94 per cent.

The Guangdong-based developer said it has appointed 43-year-old Wu Bijun as the new CFO, starting in April. Wu, who joined Country Garden in 2005, currently works as the general manager of the company’s finance centre.

The company has also announced the departure of two executive directors — Su Rubo and Ou Xueming, due to retirement.

Shares of Country Garden dropped 2.32 per cent on Wednesday in Hong Kong.